In the months leading up to BlizzCon, it was anybody's guess as to what the new Battle.net might look like. During interviews, Blizzard developers mostly mumbled about matchmaking, leagues and other features, but were always quick to note that everything was still up in the air. But following the official unveiling of the Battle.net feature list, Blizzard isn't mumbling anymore. On top of the Real ID system and other Xbox Live-esque features, the new Battle.net will also see Blizzard experimenting in radical areas of online service. A prime example is the post-launch StarCraft II Marketplace, which--in addition to supporting the upload of free maps--will allow users to sell high-quality maps and mods, a monetary incentive largely untested in the industry.

The man behind Blizzard's big online push is Greg Canessa, former head of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade division. During an interview with Shacknews this weekend, Canessa touched on topics such as the marketplace, console potential, LAN play, and whether we might see games other than Blizzard's on Battle.net in the future. ... Read more

Battle.net developer Greg Canessa says that Blizzard is actively working on a LAN-like solution to include for Battle.net play in StarCraft II.

"We are working on solutions with regard to things we can do to maintain connectivity to Battle.net in some way, but also provide a great quality connection between players," said Canessa.

Blizzard recently announced that traditional LAN play would not be included in the game, with offline play only being allowed in the singleplayer campaign.

I asked Canessa whether the solution his team is working on might... Read more

Click, click, click. It's rare that a game is so instantly recognized by simple onomatopoeia. Diablo III has that instant recognition factor; playing the game, it is Diablo from the first hack.

At the same time, this isn't Diablo. It's flashier. It's faster. It's "more vibrant," as the team likes to put it. These changes were even more pronounced in this year's BlizzCon build, a tour of a desert area that included a playable version of the Monk class.

The recently announced Eastern fighter is like nothing seen in previous Diablo games. For the sake of Blizzard canon, the Monk from Diablo's Hellfire expansion must have been geriatric. He came to Tristram to live out his years in peace, but was forced out of his holy Lazyboy to get the demons of Hell off of his lawn, gosh darnit.

The difference between the old and new Monks is like that of Obi-Wan and Ewan McGreggor. Things on the screen are dead before you hear the sound of the click. The Seven Strikes ability, which sees the Monk zipping across the screen... Read more

Battlestar Galactica veteran Tricia Helfer will voice Zerg queen Kerrigan in Blizzard's StarCraft II.

The news broke out of BlizzCon's StarCraft II lore panel, which promised a special guest. Helfer appeared on stage with much of the title's voice cast.

Helfer is becoming a videogame voice regular, with credits on the upcoming Halo: ODST and past titles such as Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Command and Conquer 3.

Blizzard has released some crisp official images showing off its work on the upcoming revamp of Battle.net.

The service will launch in early 2010 alongside StarCraft II. For more details, check out our Battle.net writeup from earlier today.

A future StarCraft II Marketplace service was announced today at BlizzCon. The Battle.net store, planned to be added to StarCraft II after the game's launch, will allow map makers to publish both free and "premium" maps.

Premium maps will carry a fee, meaning mod and map makers can sell their content directly on Battle.net.

"We want to make sure that the best amateur game designers out there are making maps for StarCraft 2, and not for Kongregate or Steam or anything like that," said Blizzard's Rob Pardo.

"Think about it like this: something like Defense of the Ancients, I think, would be something like a free map because it doesn't have a lot of original content," he added, while noting that Blizzard made the announcement today in order to give map makers time to start thinking about ideas.

"We totally intend for there to be a lot of free content," he assured the crowd.

If you want to see more of Diablo III's monk class than screenshots and dramatic cut scenes feast your eyes upon twelve minutes of solo and multiplayer monking.

Announced today at BlizzCon, the monk focuses on melee combat with staves and fist weapons, fueled by a combo system. Alas, Diablo 3 is not out until at least 2011.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm footage fresh from BlizzCon reveals how many of the MMORPG's zones will be changed with its expansion's titular upheaval, as well as touring the starting areas for Cataclysm's new races, the Goblins and Worgen.

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Blizzard revealed new details on the upcoming revision of its multiplayer service Battle.net during BlizzCon today.

"Battle.net has actually got more players on it than World of Warcraft," Blizzard's Rob Pardo reminded the crowd at the beginning of his talk. The service has 12 million players to WoW's 11.5 million.

The new Battle.net will feature standard panes for news, profiles/avatars, and achievements. The biggest news was the new "Real ID" system, which allows players to communicate across all of Blizzard's games in Xbox Live fashion.

Real ID also links achievements across all of Blizzard's games and characters, meaning players won't need to re-earn achievements on one character that they earned on another.

Pardo went into detail on custom map support. Map makers can ... Read more

The flood of assets from BlizzCon 2009 continues below with the latest screenshots from anticipated sequel StarCraft II, which developer Blizzard recently pushed into 2010.

There's still a chance you could be playing StarCraft II before the year's end, however, as Blizzard today said that it expects to kick off the multiplayer beta before 2009 is out.

The media blitz of BlizzCon 2009 continues in the two videos below, which respectively detail the story and gameplay of Diablo III's just revealed Monk class.

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Also revealed today was word that Diablo III is not expected to arrive in 2010, which suggests that Blizzard's anticipated action-RPG won't be out until... Read more

Following the announcement of the holy Monk class for Diablo III, Blizzard detailed the character's skills during a BlizzCon panel.

According to Diablo 3 lead designer Jya Wilson, Blizzard liked the idea of the Monk because he's fast, "but is also fragile. That's a really interesting contradiction that we thought would make for good gameplay." The team referenced Diablo II's Assassin and World of Warcraft's Rogue in redesigning the class.

The Monk will be defined by its combo moves, holy magic, speed, and complementary skills. Wilson said that the Monk will be a bit harder to pick up for players, but that they didn't mind adding a class that required more skill in the early game.

Designer Wyatt Cheng then introduced several of the Monk's lightning-quick skills.

Way of the Hundred Fists: "The player is actually hitting the... Read more

Fresh off the BlizzCon 2009 asset disc, here's another batch of screenshots from Blizzard's just-revealed World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm, due in 2010. For more on the expansion, check out the reveal trailer and the initial details, and be sure to stick around for more on the additions and changes as BlizzCon 2009 continues.

Fresh out of BlizzCon are the first screenshots for Diablo 3's monk class, showing the melee master pummeling undead with staves, fist weapons and his bare fists.

Another entry in Blizzard's fictional writings of Abd al-Hazir retells the travellers first encounter with a monk.

The last weeks of autumn had settled upon Ivgorod, and the first breath of winter had crept into the air. As night fell and the sun dipped below the horizon, I was all too grateful to take refuge in a tavern. As I entered, I noted a certain tension in the room... Read more

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is getting several new zones, all revealed today during BlizzCon.

In detaling the new zones, Blizzard revealed that the starting zones of Gilneas (Worgen) and The Lost Isles (Goblins) will be level 1-15.

In addition to the new areas, every zone in Azeroth will have some kind of change. Many will see cosmetic and monster level changes, and every zone now supports flying mounts.

The Horde has also finally taken Southshore, ending the infamous battle. Take that, Alliance jerks.

Following up on today's announcement of the next World of Warcraft expansion, Blizzard has issued the first trailer and screens, offering a glimpse of the two new races--Worgen, Goblin--and the various additions. At present, Cataclysm is expected in 2010.

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Much to the chagrin of those who were expecting Diablo III to arrive next year, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime has confirmed that just-revealed World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm and StarCraft II are the two titles the company expects to hit in 2010.

Morhaime made the revelation while talking with BlizzCon Live hosts Geoff Keighley and Kat Hunter, with more details on Blizzard's projects expected as BlizzCon continues.

Though StarCraft II was recently delayed into 2010, Blizzard is still confident that the promised multiplayer beta will indeed kick off before the end of the year. "I'm confident the beta will start this year," Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaim told BlizzCon Live Stream host Geoff Keighley in an interview following today's press conference.

"We don't have a date yet, but that is a focus--we're working on getting the beta ready," Morhaime added. "We don't want to put it out too early."

Update: Screenshots and the announcement trailer are viewable here.

Blizzard today announced a new World of Warcraft expansion dubbed "Cataclysm" during the opening ceremony at its BlizzCon convention.

Rumors of a world-changing expansion proved true, with Cataclysm seeing a chaotic revamp of existing Azeroth zones.

"As the terrible war against the Lich King continues, the proud defenders of Azeroth fight to secure a lasting peace," said the trailer. "But there can be no peace when the world itself is devoured by rage."

Goblins were confirmed as the new Horde race, while the werewolf-esque Worgen were announced for the Alliance. New race and class combinations were promised, as were heroic versions of classic dungeons such as Deadmines. Dragon boss Deathwing will return, and the new level cap will be to 85. Cataclysm is targeted for... Read more

Update: Screenshots and a splash of backstory are now available for your titillation.

The latest class announced for Blizzard's Diablo III is the Monk, a character first introduced in the original Diablo's 'Hellfire' expansion.

An image of the Monk leaked early on the Korean Blizzard site, beating the official announcement at BlizzCon.

"It's a class that has its roots in old school fantasy, but we believe you haven't seen it quite like this before," said Blizzard's Chris Metzen during the official unveiling. "I'm very proud to introduce to you, the new Diablo 3, with all of its open-handed, Tiger-strike packed fury, the Monk."

A cinematic using the Diablo III engine was hsown, with a bald-headed, staff-wielding Monk battling a fire-shooting demon. The beareded Monk used its bare hands near the end, finishing off the demon with an open-palmed attack.

Gameplay footage showed the Monk using quick jabs and punches to attack enemies, with several attacks that hit many monsters in quick succession.